The 26th Annual National Gingerbread House Competition at The Omni Grove Park Inn was be held on Monday, November 19 and the winners in each category have been announced. And we’ve got pics of them all here for you.
Winners of the 26th National Gingerbread House Competition
What began in 1992 has since become one of the nation’s most celebrated and competitive holiday events. The Omni Grove Park Inn National Gingerbread House Competition™ entries are judged on five criteria: Overall Appearance, Originality & Creativity, Difficulty, Precision and Consistency of Theme.
Except for the base, entries must be constructed of edible materials. The main structure must be at least 75% gingerbread, some of which should be exposed. Edible materials are not limited to candies and icings.
The caliber of judges is an impressive one. The panel for 2018 featured world-renowned pastry chefs, artists and media experts, including Mark Seaman, the master sugar artist for Barry Callebaut; Nadine Orenstein, curator of the department of drawings and prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; head judge, Nicholas Lodge, author of over one dozen sugar art books and instructional DVDs; celebrity chef and author Carla Hall; and many others.
The 2018 winning entries in the categories of adult, teen, youth and child are as follows:
Grand Prize Winner, Adult: Julie and Michael Andreacola, Indian Trail, NC
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Adult Second Place: Catherine Beddall, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Adult Third Place: Grier Rubeling, Cary, NC
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Teen (13- to 17-year-olds) First Place: Courtland High School German Club, Spotsylvania, VA
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Teen Second Place: Gabriella Arthur, Easley, SC
Teen Third Place: Chloe Jennings, Purlear, NC
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Youth (9 to 12-year-olds) First Place: The Salty Sketeboarding Bears on Mars, Asheville, NC
Youth Second Place: Carly and Katie Owens, Taylorsville, NC
Youth Third Place: S’morals, Greenville, SC
Child (5- to 8-year-olds) First Place: Cabarrus Charter Kids, China Grove, NC
Child Second Place: David and Trenton Hodges, Asheville, NC
Child Third Place: Addison Bennett, Rutherfordton, NC
The Prizes
ADULT CATEGORY
Grand Prize: $5,000 prize check, a two-night Club Floor stay at OGPI, dinner for two, daily breakfast for two, a
Prize Package
including a two-day class at the Nicholas Lodge School in Atlanta, GA, Renshaw and Nicholas Lodge brand products and one ribbon.
2nd Place: $2,500 prize check, a two-night Mountain View stay at OGPI including daily breakfast for two, dinner for two, two Spa
Day Passes, and one ribbon.
3rd Place: $1,200 prize check, a one-night Mountain View stay at OGPI including breakfast and dinner for two, and one ribbon.
TEEN CATEGORY
1st Place: $750 Prize check, dinner for four at EDISON, and a ribbon.
2nd Place: $500 prize check and one ribbon.
3rd Place: $250 prize check and one ribbon.
YOUTH CATEGORY
1st Place: $300 prize check, dinner for four at EDISON and one ribbon.
2nd Place: $200 prize check and one ribbon.
3rd Place: $100 prize check and one ribbon.
CHILD CATEGORY
1st Place: $100 prize check, dinner for four at EDISON, and one ribbon.
2nd Place: $75 prize check and one ribbon
3rd Place: $50 prize check and one ribbon
You can see several more of the entries here.
In the spirit of the holidays, The Omni Grove Park Inn will be displaying all gingerbread designs from Sunday, Nov. 25 through Thursday, Jan. 4, 2019 to visitors on a complimentary basis.
images courtesy of Omni Hotels, Romantic Asheville and Mountain X
More Gingerbread
We just happen to have an awesome Gingerbread House board on Pinterest here!